Bengals are 'Golden'

It was the best of times for one team and the worst of times for the other in each game as the Clarkston girls and Lewiston boys produced blowouts in the 30th annual Golden Throne prep basketball rivalry doubleheader on Friday at Lewis-Clark State’s P1FCU Activity Center.

The Bantams won the girls game 58-18, then the Bengal boys struck back with a margin of victory one point greater at 76-35. These were the two most-lopsided games in Golden Throne history on either the boys or girls side.

To close out the night’s lively festivities, Lewiston was declared the overall winner of the school spirit award for a second consecutive year.

Balanced Bantams

The girls game began with a run of red-hot Clarkston momentum that matched the Bantams’ dominant color scheme. Clarkston (4-1) scored steadily and ran a defensive press that had a flustered Lewiston (4-4) often struggling to hold onto the ball for more than a few seconds at a time.

“We just try to mix our defenses up, and tonight was a great night to try some new things,” Clarkston coach Debbie Sobotta said.

Up 13-2 through the first quarter, the Bantams had run their advantage all the way to 21-2 off a Jaelyn McCormack-Marks 3-pointer that rattled in with a little under six minutes to go in the second before the Bengals’ Addy McKarcher finally stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer of her own.

The rout grew somewhat less severe from there on out, but Lewiston never threatened to close the gap. In a balanced effort from Clarkston with seven players getting on the board including five who scored eight points or more, McCormack-Marks led the way in scoring (16 points), steals (six) and assists (three) while adding another six rebounds.

“She was focused,” Clarkston coach Debbie Sobotta said of the junior point guard who transferred from Lapwai last year.

Jaelyn McCormack-Marks passed to her younger sister Joslyn McCormack-Marks for both of the latter’s field goals on the day — the second of which prompted chants of “She’s a freshman! She’s a freshman!” from proud compatriots in the stands.

“She finds her sister really well,” Sobotta said. “They have played years together.”

Also distinguishing herself for Clarkston was Reese de Groot, who tallied 11 points and a team-high eight boards. McKarcher led the way for Lewiston with nine points.

Big-shooting Bengals

Long-range shooting has been the unbeaten Bengal boys’ signature throughout the season thus far, and their showing on Friday was no exception.

Lewiston (6-0) shot 17-for-31 from 3-point range as a team, with Royce Fisher leading the way in a 4-for-5 showing. Four Bengals supplied double-digit point contributions: Fisher (18 points), Parker Bogar (14), Blaze Hepburn (13) and Jordan Walker (11).

At 17-4 through the opening quarter, the contest was not quite as one-sided at the outset as the girls game had been, but it would seem Lewiston was only warming up. The Bengals already had eight 3-pointers to their credit as they entered halftime ahead 46-16, then came out of intermission with a barrage that saw them connect seven times from beyond the arc in the third quarter alone. Their production only slowed as most of their starters went to the bench for the final frame.

“The way that we space the floor obviously frees things up for guys,” Lewiston coach Brooks Malm said. “I thought that we did a good job of sharing the ball tonight. I didn’t think we took any bad 3s.”

For the Bantams (1-4), Jason Rinard shot 5-for-9 including 3-for-5 from distance to total a team-high 13 points. Clarkston’s Niko Ah Hi was extremely efficient, going 3-for-4 from the field including 2-for-2 from 3 and hitting a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line as he tallied 12 points.

According to records compiled by local historian Denny Grubb, the most lopsided Golden Throne game heading into this year had been a 72-33 victory for the Lewiston girls in 2014. The Bantam girls exceeded that margin by a single point in their showing on Friday, only for the Bengal boys to immediately go one further with a 41-point spread.

This was the first time the Golden Throne was held in December since 1995, with the event which had normally been played in January being bumped back a month due to availability issues at the Activity Center.

Displays of school spirit

The evening was marked by the high energy and attendance for which the Golden Throne is well-known, with raucous festivities led by large student sections decked out to display their school colors and follow a “winter holiday” theme. The two went well together for Clarkston, which was able to produce a host of bright red Santa hats, while Lewiston had its own line of purple and gold Santa hat variants. The student sections periodically addressed each other with dueling chants.

“We got spirit — yes we do! We got spirit — how ‘bout you?” the call and reply would arise. This would eventually morph into competing choruses of “We got more! We got more! We got more!”

Mid-and-postgame entertainment included dance routines by cheerleaders and drama club members from both schools and games like a rock-paper-scissors face off. Intermission fun in the boys game also included a sequence of faux-combat between the schools’ mascots, with Clarkston’s Bantam showcasing a skillset that included spinning kicks and rear bear hug body slam technique.

In the aftermath of the Lewiston boys victory, a loudspeaker announcement was that the school had also won the spirit award, sending the Bengals into rapturous celebration.

“There’s judges, and we don’t necessarily know who they are,” Lewiston ASB secretary Eva Steele said in explaining the award. “It’s judged on how much spirit we have and how much sportsmanship, and how we express our school colors.”

The Golden Throne also served as a charitable fundraiser, with Lewiston and Clarkston drawing thousands of dollars apiece for SPIN (Suicide Prevention of the Inland Northwest) and the Gina Quesenberry Foundation breast cancer charity, respectively.

GIRLS

CLARKSTON (5-1)

Jaelyn McCormack-Marks 6 0-0 16, Preslee Dempsey 1 0-0 2, Reese de Groot 3 5-7 11, Aneysa Judy 2 3-4 8, Joslyn McCormack-Marks 2 0-0 4, Ryann Combs 0 0-0 0, Tatum Sevy 0 0-0 0, Ella Leavitt 3 1-1 8, Lexi Villavicencio 3 2-3 9. Totals 20 11-15 58.

LEWISTON (4-4)

Emma Walker 0 0-0 0, Avery Balmer 0 0-0 0, Skye VanTrease 1 1-4 3, Kara Stanger 0 0-0 0, Addy McKarcher 4 0-0 9, Avery Lathen 1 1-2 3, Paytland Schnell 0 0-2 0, Emery McKarcher 1 0-0 2, Mady Bruce 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 3-10 18.

Clarkston 13 15 20 10—58

Lewiston 2 9 15 3—18

3-point goals — Ja. McCormack-Marks 4, Judy, Leavitt, Villavicencio, A. McKarcher.

———

BOYS

CLARKSTON (1-4)

Isaiah Woods 0 0-0 0, Lee Brown 1 0-0 2, Braxton Forsmann 0 0-0 0, Niko Ah Hi 3 4-4 12, Otis Phillips 0 0-2 0, Josh Hoffman 3 0-2 6, Chase Brown 0 0-0 0, Kendry Gimlin 1 0-0 2, Jason Rinard 5 0-0 13. Totals 13 4-8 35.

LEWISTON (6-0)

Dray Torpey 3 0-0 9, Royce Fisher 7 0-0 18, Drew Alldredge 0 0-2 0, Jordan Walker 4 0-0 11, Guy Krasselt 3 0-0 7, Brady Rudolph 0 1-2 1, Blaze Hepburn 5 0-0 13, Parker Bogar 6 0-0 14. Totals 29 1-4 76.

Clarkston 4 12 9 10—35

Lewiston 17 29 24 6—76

3-point goals — Rinard 3, Ah Hi 2, Fisher 4, Torpey 3, Walker 3, Hepburn 3, Bogar 2, Krasselt.

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.